Interview and photos by Devon Denham
People have been moving out West for hundreds of years now. Settlers traveled in covered wagons with hopes of striking rich during the California Gold Rush in 1848. BMXers have done the same by escaping the frigid winters of the East Coast, and soaking up the sun out in the West. Cory Wiergowski and Nick Bullen did just that, when they decided to up-and-move to the “Scum House” in Phoenix, Arizona. With that being said, lets dig deeper into the thoughts of Nick and Cory. After you check out the interview, don’t forget to check out the PHOTOGALLERY to go with this!
Why did you guys decide to leave Detroit?
Cory: It’s been in the back of our heads for a while now, but until this year we finally decided to escape the harsh Michigan winters.
Did you know anyone out in Phoenix?
Nick: Our friend Justin Bayliss moved out to Phoenix a year before we decided to make the move.
How was the drive out West? Did you run into anything interesting while on your journey out to Phoenix?
Cory: The drive out here was about my 4th time driving across the country, so it wasn’t to bad. Also, we didn’t drive straight through. We made a stop in Kansas City, and then we crashed with our homie Josh Dunn and his lovely wife Tricia’s place in Denver, CO for about a week.
What were your goals for once you arrived to Arizona?
Nick: Being able to ride as much as possible, find new spots, and meet new friends.
You and Nick seem like pretty close friends. Do guys butt heads a lot since you sleep in the same room?
Cory: Yeah, We for sure get pissed at each other once and awhile, but it doesn’t last more then 30 minutes, then we’re cool again. The dude is like my brother, and brothers argue.
How did you find out about “Scum House”?
Nick: My homie Justin Bayliss moved out here a couple years ago with a bunch of skater homies that were also from Detroit. It grew to be a very well known party house for pro skaters, but there is now 4 BMX riders residing here.
How did the house get that name?
Cory: Auttiesh Danger (a well known skater in Phoenix) was the first person to dub it “Scum House”.
The house looks like it has seen better days on the interior. Do the parties get pretty wild over there?
Cory: They used to back in the day. But that is before our time here. It’s pretty chill. The homies and I will play beer pong and shit with some sluts occasionally.
How much is rent there, and how many people are currently living there?
Nick: All together rent is about $1100 plus utilities split between 6 roommates. Everyone at the house is awesome and easy to live with.
I remember waking up a few mornings due to your roommate Reeves. Would you care to explain his typical morning routine that wakes everyone up?
Cory: Hahaha… Reeves is a strange man with a plan in life and if you knock him off track…. he’s fucked. His story in the morning is the fact that he’s lactose and tolerant, but loves milk. His stomach doesn’t appreciate it very much resulting in explosive diarrhea.
What’s your favorite part about Phoenix, and why?
Nick: It’s a beautiful city, seems so much more clean then back home, discovering all the spots phoenix has to offer is amazing too.
Cory: I love the simple fact of everywhere you go there’s tire marks all over everything, the scene here is fuckin strong it’s unbelievable. There’s always pro’s in town, which due to being from Michigan, I’m in fact not used to. The best part is that you never even have to leave this place people just come to you.
How do you guys go about making money?
Nick: Cory and I both work very part time for an assembly company just to keep the bills paid. But most of my income is based off of how many tattoo appointments I can schedule in between riding and the other job.
Cory: we both build bikes for national assemblers part-time but we both had a bunch of money saved up from building houses back home. Albe’s BMX mailorder helps me out huge with any trips I take when we leave Phoenix also that helps me out soooo much.
The scene out there seems pretty cool. Who all do you ride with, and what spots do you guys ride the most?
Cory : The scene here is amazing, we stay trill with the close homies Justin bayliss, Greg Moliterno, Joey Calderone, Cody Clark, Dawson Clark, Drew Hosselton, Bobby Kanode, and Dean Watson. We ride all over the state; we’ve covered a lot of ground in the past 6 months that we’ve been here. You can defiantly catch us at the Glendale cement park night session like every other night. That park is awesome!
Do you plan on staying in Phoenix longer?
Nick: I think we both intend on living here for a while, it’s too nice of an area to leave so quick. That is, unless some new ideas come to mind and we decide to travel somewhere new.
If you had any advice for anyone moving out West what would you tell them?
Nick: Moving is a big commitment, let alone out west. Leaving all your homies back home sucks, so making new friends with as many people as you can always helps.
Cory: Moving across the country is a huge commitment, but if your trying to meet as many people as possible and want to ride street all year long it’s def. the place to be. I miss my close homies Jason Govan, Dane Wild, Mark Flip, Jason Suchan, Eric Trombley and all of my family, but sometimes your friends can hold you back from doing big things in life. If the opportunity is right just go for it! East is beast but west is best!!
Check out this PHOTOGALLERY filled with more dialed photos!
Also, here’s a recent edit of Cory that was filmed around Arizona!
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